Experiential Education

Tandem Friends students enjoy endless experiential education opportunities in the classroom and on campus, putting to use our natural outdoor spaces, our stream, and even our bluebird houses as learning labs. Our students also participate in life-altering Experiential Learning or Service Learning trips. These overnight to week-long events happen early in the year and combine community building time as a class, subject area education, and outdoor education or actual service in the larger community.

6th graders take an overnight trip to Maryland to experience the ropes course at the Sandy Spring School Adventure Park and to participate in a Quaker School exchange with other 6th graders.

7th graders travel by train for a three-night stay in Washington, DC, sharing simple accommodations in a local hostel, and enjoying hands-on history and humanities at area museums and historic sites. In addition to their sightseeing experiences, students perform a full day of service for DC-area organizations that serve the homeless and the elderly. Other fun activities round out the trip.

8th graders can participate in an Arts Intensive trip to New York City.

9th graders travel to North Carolina's Tsali National Recreation Area to bond over the Cherokee cultural experience, Appalachian arts and music, community service, whitewater rafting and mountain biking, and camping together at the National Forest Campground.

10th graders spend time at a traditional camp and travel locally to explore themes of social justice, identity and leadership.

11th graders spend a week in the Badlands of South Dakota, experiencing the land and culture of the Oglala Sioux, visiting Pine Ridge Reservation and Wounded Knee, and studying local geology, and grounding their year of American Studies through immersion in the heartland.

12th graders spend a full day in Washington, DC to supplement their Government studies, and spend several days on campus to focus completely on the college application process at the start of their senior year.

Balsa Wood Structures

Balsa Wood Structures

Hovercrafts

Hovercrafts

Rube Goldberg Contraptions

Helicoptering in the Gym

Helicoptering in the Gym

Trebuchet

Trebuchet

Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.